Race 3 winner - Rob Austin

Rob Austin claimed his third career BTCC win at Brands Hatch. The official BTCC website caught up with the Handy Motorsport man following a fantastic day of racing:

Drivers' Champion - Ash Sutton

Ashley Sutton claimed his maiden BTCC title at Brands Hatch. The official BTCC website caught up with Ash following a fantastic day of racing:

Jack Sears Trophy Champion – Senna Proctor

Power Maxed Racing's Senna Proctor claimed the Jack Sears Trophy after a fantastic season for the young rookie. The official BTCC website caught up with Senna following an exciting day of racing at Brands Hatch:

Independents' Champions - Tom Ingram and Speedworks

Tom Ingram claimed the Independent Drivers' as well as powering his Speedworks Motorsport squad to the Independents Teams' title. The official BTCC website caught up with Tom and team boss Christian Dick following an exciting day of racing at Brands Hatch:

Turkington takes classic to keep title hopes alive

Team BMW's Colin Turkington kept his title chances alive with a sensational victory in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Brands Hatch.

The double BTCC champion surged from 15th on the grid – making incredible pass after pass – to eventually muscle his way by long-time leader Aiden Moffat to clinch an emotional win. Turkington also had to get past title rival Ash Sutton during a quite sublime performance, and the latter now holds just a six point advantage going into this afternoon's nail biting season finale.

Moffat's Laser Tools Racing Mercedes made a good getaway from pole position, as Tom Ingram's Toyota tucked in behind, but a nervy Sutton was being shuffled down to sixth in his Subaru Levorg.

Turkington was up to 12th at the end of the first tour and he was soon into the top ten following moves by Rob Austin and Jack Goff. More heroics followed before Turkington's BMW 125i M Sport was hauled onto the back of Sutton's machine, and he scythed his way through on the run up to Druids on lap eight.

Further manoeuvres by Matt Neal, Tom Ingram and Gordon Shedden left Turkington looking at the rear of Moffat's Mercedes and the moment of truth came late on. Slight contact into Paddock Hill Bend saw Turkington cement P1 and complete one of the most memorable drives in recent history.

"I’ve still got the fight!" said Turkington. "What an amazing race. I wasn’t expecting to make that much progress but the strategy was really good. Obviously, I missed out in race one but with the soft tyre here and no weight the 1 Series was blinding. I had the fire in my belly, there’s too much at stake not to. The grip was there in the warmer part of the day once you make a few places up, you get a bit of confidence and we were strong in the right areas, so I could make the cutback and we were strong on the brakes too.

"Aiden (Moffat) was carrying full weight and driving a very defensive race – I came with so much more pace and was able to brake so much deeper. The disparity between the two cars at that point was pretty obvious and there was too much at stake to follow him around, so I may have just kissed him. I’m just going to try. A cup of tea is required! I’ll reset and we’ve got to do the same again. I thought after race one that it was too much of an ask but there are always twists and turns and I’m just going to give it everything. I’ve fought from day one to now, so I’ll keep trying."

When the dust settled it was the Halfords Yuasa Racing pairing of Shedden and Neal completing the podium positions, ahead of Mat Jackson's Motorbase-run Ford Focus and the recovering Moffat.

Ingram claimed sixth to move into an unassailable lead in the Independent Drivers' standings – a fantastic achievement from the young Toyota star.

"All credit goes to Speedworks," enthused Ingram. "They’ve done a splendid job to pull all this together. Without them all, I wouldn’t be able to do what we do. I’m so, so pleased. It’s huge for us. People may look down on it but there are some proper teams in this paddock.

"You look down the Independents’ table and there’s some real class in there. For us to come out on top with a race to spare is just amazing. Hopefully we can get the Independent Teams’ wrapped up now too. Gordon (Shedden) had a very good run that time, and had the pace on me and he managed to sneak past. It’s really good for us to be in the mix for third in the overall standings, too."

Goff, Austin and Michael Epps completed the top ten order, with the latter receiving more joy post-race when Murray Walker picked out the #1o ball during the reverse grid draw, meaning the VW driver will start the final race of the season from pole position.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 29 – Brands Hatch GP

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW 15 laps
Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.605s
Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.246s
Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +3.756s
5 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +5.923s
6 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +6.486s
Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +6.832s
Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +7.252s
Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +7.854s
10 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +8.001s
11 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +8.563s
12 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +8.691s
13 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +8.958s
14 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.420s
15 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +11.810s
16 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +15.016s
17 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +15.290s
18 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +15.480s
19 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +15.644s
20 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +16.411s
21 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +16.730s
22 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +17.066s
23 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +22.090s
24 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +29.816s
25 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +31.169s
26 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +41.809s
27 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +49.980s
28 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1 lap
29 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +7 laps

Moffat holds them off to win race one

Aiden Moffat – the BTCC's youngest ever driver – produced a mature defensive masterclass to win the opening BTCC race at Brands Hatch.

Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton finished second and third, edging them closer to the Independents' and overall Drivers' titles respectively.

Pole-sitter Jack Goff endured a dramatic start as his Honda Civic Type R slid wildly through Paddock Hill Bend on the greasy conditions. Having the unenviable task of being the first driver to run on the damp surface through one of motorsport's most daunting corners, Goff lost control and his Eurotech Racing car ended up in the barrier.

Moffat inherited the lead and maintained the position for the full race distance, but the flying Scotsman's came under intense pressure throughout from Ingram and Sutton.

Championship leader Sutton initially held second before Ingram's Toyota carved past on the exit of Clearways on lap five.

The trio remained inseparable for the remainder with the pace fluctuating between them. Several passing attempts were made but the positions remained the same until the finish, as Moffat impressively secured his second BTCC career victory. 

"It’s a great way to end the season and a nice belated birthday present," said 21-year-old Moffat. "The Laser Tools guys and the Ciceley Motorsport mob gave me a great car – it’s felt brilliant all weekend. It was hard in those conditions, getting into the lead and becoming the guinea pig. It’s about being cautious and not leaving yourself open to getting passed. I love those kind of conditions, though. I like the car moving and I’m comfortable with that.

"It was a frustrating mid-season for us after getting that first win at Donington Park we thought we’d cracked it. It didn’t amount to anything but to get that today is a great result. It’s a shame what happened to Jack (Goff), but it obviously helped us. We would have had a good battle though, I’m sure. There’s a party tonight and I’m half tempted to call it quits now! For the next one we’ve just got to hold our own with the ballast and then fight again in race three."

Mat Jackson claimed fourth for Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo as his race was made slightly easier when Handy Motorsport's Rob Austin spun out of contention behind him.

Vauxhall claimed manufacturer honours in the race as Tom Chilton held off Power Maxed Racing team-mate Senna Proctor to take fifth.

Outgoing BTCC champion Gordon Shedden grabbed seventh, from 16th on the grid, and also took an extra championship point for fastest lap. 

BTC Norlin Racing's Dave Newsham had some nervy moments in the early laps but the experienced racer still scored a very credible eighth, ahead of the recovering Austin, whilst Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal rounded out the top ten.

The overall championship picture took a turn for the worse for Team BMW's Colin Turkington as he could only manage 15th and a solitary point. The BMW 125i M Sport seemed to struggle for grip as the rain drizzled down and the Ulsterman even lost a place on the final lap as contact with Mat Simpson's Honda let the AmD Audi of Ollie Jackson through.

Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Sutton now holds a 24 point advantage over Turkington in the overall standing with 44 still on offer over the remainder of the day. The action is LIVE now on ITV4 and will be throughout the day as the destiny of this year's title is decided.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 28 – Brands Hatch GP

1 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 15 laps
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.345s
Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.499s
Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +14.474s
Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +15.802s
6 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +16.195s
Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +19.140s
8 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +29.547s
Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +31.577s
10 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +41.344s
11 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +47.480s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +47.708s
13 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +49.110s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +50.241s
15 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +50.667s
16 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +50.891s
17 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1m05.495s
18 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +1m08.822s
19 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1m14.046s
20 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1m14.698s
21 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1m24.787s
22 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1m26.364s
23 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1m38.336s
24 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1 lap
25 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1 lap
26 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +1 lap
27 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +1 lap
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1 lap
29 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1 lap
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +13 laps

Goff grabs another pole

Eurotech Racing's Jack Goff grabbed his third pole position of the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship whilst drama struck the title fight in qualifying at Brands Hatch.

Rain and red flags interrupted the early running as Brett Smith and Josh Cook were among those to go off in the greasy conditions, but it was all eyes on Team BMW's Colin Turkington whose car failed to start in the pitlane.

An electrical problem struck Turkington's BMW 125i M Sport, and would plague his machine for much of the session, although his West Surrey Racing team were able to make some use of the delay to rectify the issue whilst Cook's stricken MG was retrieved from the gravel.

Fellow title contender and championship leader Ash Sutton suffered no such problems, as he clocked a sensational lap to go second in his ballast-laden Subaru Levorg following the restart. The young Adrian Flux Subaru Racing star would be relegated down to third late on after Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat rounded off his own impressive day with a stellar effort.

Moffat's Mercedes had been a front-runner in an earlier practice session, and he produced the goods when it mattered to make the front row for the second time in his BTCC career. Sutton looked to respond on his final lap – setting the fastest first sector overall – but he eventually fell short.

Third still represents a huge success for Sutton as Turkington's struggles continued until deep in the session. The multiple championship winning WSR squad did a great job to eventually get the Ulsterman out on track, but with little time to make significant inroads he could only set a time quick enough for 17th on the grid.

Back up front and Handy Motorsport's Rob Austin and Power Maxed Racing's Tom Chilton performed well to line-up fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of triple BTCC champion Matt Neal.

Tom Ingram and Speedworks Motorsport are targeting both Independents' titles this weekend and the Toyota star is nicely poised to fulfil those ambitions from seventh on the grid.

Local light Jake Hill hauled his TAG Racing VW CC around the 2.43-mile Grand Prix circuit to clinch eighth ahead of Adam Morgan's Mercedes and Jason Plato's Subaru.

So it is on to tomorrow's season finale, with three thrilling BTCC races set to decide the destiny of Britain's most coveted motor sport crown. Sutton holds a ten point lead over rival Turkington, as well as a 14-place advantage on the grid for the opener, but anything can happen in the BTCC.

A huge crowd is expected to attend the legendary Kent circuit with many more watching the live and exclusive action on ITV4, which will get underway at 10:30am.

Jack Goff said: "These boys at Eurotech Racing have given me three poles and Jeff (Smith) one – that’s more than anybody else on the grid and the Honda Civic Type R was fantastic. Being where we were in practice, we knew we had a quick car in the dry and when the rain came down, we thought our hard work was going to go to waste. We’re fully aware of a fast-starting rear-wheel drive Subaru around us but we’ll see what we can do. I’ve got nothing to lose. We’ve got the Independents’ to fight for but to go for that title, I need to go out and try and get the win here."

Aiden Moffat said: "It’s a nice change to be up at the right end of the grid after the last few qualifying sessions! Some of that has been down to bad luck, some has been small issues and some has been the driver not performing! The car felt brilliant; the Mercedes is always amazing round here. I want to thank the Laser Tools boys and the Ciceley crew for giving me a great car as always at this event. I always feel confident coming to Brands GP and we managed to put the lap together."

Ash Sutton said: "That couldn’t have gone any better for us, especially with the 14 place deficit to Colin (Turkington). The team were making me aware of that gap but they came over the radio though and said I needed four more tenths! You can never leave anything on the table and I was pushing. The start of the session was a complete write off with the weather and changing tyres over so with less than half a session to go at, it wasn’t a bad result. The car and Adrian Flux Subaru Racing have done me proud and I owe a lot to Jason who was towing me around. The 75kgs of success ballast hinder us and having that draft counteracts the ballast at least. It’s going to be a hunt for points. I know Colin’s more than capable of pushing up the order but I’ll be concentrating on my own race – I don’t need to do anything silly."

Colin Turkington said: "Obviously it was a very difficult session for the whole team. Rob (Collard) unfortunately didn’t get out, and then we found a problem on my car on the very first lap which forced us back into the pits for a long time. Thankfully, the boys managed to resolve the problem, but it left me with very little opportunity to set a representative lap time. As usual, we improved the car throughout free practice and qualifying, but the most frustrating thing is there is so much more pace still sitting in it – we just needed a few more laps to release a bit more time. On the positive side, I’m 17th instead of 30th, so at least I’m halfway up the grid but it obviously isn’t where we should be. We just need to reset now. The points are handed out tomorrow, not today, so it’s better that this happens now and whilst it’s always tough to make progress through the field, this is far from over."

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Brands Hatch GP

Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing 1m30.802s (96.47mph)
2 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.357s
Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.363s
Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.459s
Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.481s
Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.487s
7 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.502s
8 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +0.505s
9 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.530s
10 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.543s
11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.612s
12 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.615s
13 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.653s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.699s
15 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.699s
16 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.790s
17 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.796s
18 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.807s
19 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.834s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +0.871s
21 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.891s
22 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +0.891s
23 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.901s
24 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.209s
25 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.406s
26 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.429s
27 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.638s
28 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +2.979s
29 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance NO TIME
30 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing NO TIME

Collard withdraws on medical grounds

Team BMW’s Rob Collard has unfortunately had to withdraw from this weekend’s final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship event of 2017 on medical grounds.

The Hampshire driver, who was involved in a high-speed accident during the recent event at Silverstone, returned to action in free practice this morning.

However, since the session, he has taken medical advice not to contest the remainder of the weekend.

We would like to send our very best wishes to Rob.

Euro Stars: Smith and Goff

The Eurotech Racing duo of Brett Smith and Jack Goff set the pace in FP2 at Brands Hatch, and the two drivers spoke with the official BTCC website following the action: 

Eurotech sets the pace in FP2

Brett Smith pipped Eurotech Racing team-mate Jack Goff in the final BTCC free practice session at Brands Hatch.

The young rookie has been in fine form so far this weekend, following up his fourth place in FP1, by setting the fastest time overall in the second session.

Goff ended up just 0.111s behind his Honda Civic Type R stablemate, whilst reigning champion Gordon Shedden made it a 1-2-3 for the Japanese marque.

Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan backed-up his earlier pace-setting showing with fourth place in his Mercedes A-Class, whilst Tom Ingram was fifth for the second successive session. Ingram is odds on favourite to clinch the Independent Drivers' crown, but he has Goff chasing him down so he'll need to remain at the sharp end throughout the weekend.

Dave Newsham has been a consistent top ten runner in recent times and sixth place for the Chevrolet Cruze was just reward for the efforts put in place by the fledgling outfit.

Local man Jake Hill claimed seventh ahead of Adrian Flux Subaru Racing duo, Ash Sutton and Jason Plato. Team Shredded Racing with Duo's Rory Butcher rounded out the top ten.

Qualifying is next up at 1505 and will be streamed LIVE over at itv.com/btcc.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Brands Hatch GP

Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing 1m31.362s
Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.111s
Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.242s
4 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.279s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.300s
6 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.304s
7 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +0.353s
Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.388s
9 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.425s
10 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.488s
11 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.500s
12 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.562s
13 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.595s
14 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.650s
15 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.677s
16 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.707s
17 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.751s
18 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.764s
19 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.790s
20 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.837s
21 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.852s
22 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +0.930s
23 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.953s
24 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +1.129s
25 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.237s
26 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.243s
27 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.344s
28 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.367s
29 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.431s
30 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.487s
31 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +2.590s